The War's Over, Now What?
by ChilombiLite
Summary: An insert to supplement the HPDH epilogue. Please excuse the dust, this story is currently under reconstruction. *wink*
1. Part 1

"I've had enough trouble for a lifetime."

Hermione and Ron nodded their heads vigorously in agreement with Harry's statement.

"What do you reckon? Shall we go get some sleep?" Ron asked.

"Best idea we've come up with so far," Harry laughed.

The three set off for the Gryffindor Tower only to realize that they didn't know the password. Much to their surprise (and very out of character), the Fat Lady welcomed them in without need or want for a password. They eagerly climbed through the portrait hole and hungrily took in the familiar sights of the common room.

The three settled into a large sofa and immediately fell asleep. When they awoke they found the remaining Weasley family members gazing down at them. Molly Weasley was the first to break the silence: "We wondered when you'd wake up. It's nearly noon!"

She kissed their foreheads and asked if they were ready to go back to The Burrow, but before she could finish her invitation, Harry interrupted: "Mrs. Weasley, I'm so sorry about Fred, it was all my fau-"

"Harry if it weren't for you, none of us would be here now. Fred went the way he wanted to go, fighting and laughing."

Harry recognized the finality of her tone. There would be no arguing with her on this matter.

"If that's the end of that, let's get going. I'm sure you'll have to shake a lot of hands before we leave." And with that, the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione walked out of the portrait hole, prepared to meet the well-wishers.

Harry took the opportunity to thank Neville, "Neville, I couldn't have done it without you. You were magnificent!" Neville beamed and congratulated Harry on his success.

As Harry and his small group passed the ruined staircases and destroyed walls, Harry saw the extent of the damage that had taken place during the night's battle. Harry knew that as soon as possible, he would do everything in his power to restore Hogwarts to its former beauty. On their slow walk through the grounds toward Hogsmeade, the group saw Professor Sprout already doing her part and attending to the flora that had been damaged during the battle. She waved at them and wished them all the best.

When they finally reached Hogsmeade, they were greeted with cheers and applause. It seemed that the whole of the Wizarding world had arrived to celebrate. The Three Broomsticks, while normally crowded, now could not contain the amount of people that were laughing and dancing in the pub. Many customers had filtered out of the pub and were celebrating in the streets. Wizards and witches were sending up colored showers of sparks into the air along with all of Zonko's supply of fireworks. After celebrating with everyone for a few minutes, Harry and his family wove their way through the streets, found a deserted corner of town and Disapparated.

Their arrival at The Burrow caused a collective unintentional sigh of relief from the group. They all happily went inside and sat down to lunch.

After lunch, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley left the children and headed off to the Ministry to see what had become of everyone they had stopped having contact with in the months since Voldemort's takeover of the government. Percy, however, stayed behind and went upstairs with George to see what had become of his room and whether or not the twins had trashed it in his absence. Their abandonment of the room left Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny left to discuss all that had happened. Harry couldn't help but wish that Ron and Hermione would vacate the room as well. Harry was out of luck because both Ron and Hermione stayed put. The trio filled Ginny in on what had gone on after Fleur and Bill's wedding.

After the retelling of tales, Harry nudged Ron under the table with his foot. After he'd gotten Ron's attention, Harry jerked his head in the direction of the door. Ron got the hint and asked Hermione if she would like to go look for a Crumple-Horned-Snorkack in Luna's garden. Hermione laughed and left with him…

Alone at last, Harry thought. There were so many things left to be said. So many sentiments to be known that Harry didn't know where to start.

Lucky for him, Ginny knew exactly what she wanted to say: "So now that you're done saving the world and all that… Where does that leave us?"

Now Harry was clear on what he was going to say. He looked into her eyes and said, "Right where we left off," and as he kissed her he could feel every worry of the past drift away.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming. Today, we mourn the losses of Fred Weasley, Severus Snape, Remus and Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin, and everyone else who was murdered at the hands of Lord Voldemort. However, today is also the day we celebrate the lives they led. Those who died by Voldemort's hand have not left us in vain, and while we must understand that they are gone in this life, they remain alive in our hearts and minds. They will not have truly died until they are no longer remembered for their brave actions and how they have been role models for us: how we should live: without fear of death, but rather a celebration of everything that life is. Live on, live free, and remember them." As Arthur Weasley finished his speech, there was not a dry eye in the audience, making it very difficult for the next speaker to go through his eulogy.

"A year ago, we celebrated the union of a couple despite the danger and mistrust the tore so many of us apart. Our actions demonstrated the strength of the human spirit and how it always gets what it desires. We celebrated love, beauty, and perseverance that day and although today is a day of mourning, we should still celebrate. While we may all be sad for the loss of our friends and family, we will, we must persevere. We must seize the day, week, month and year. Seize life, just as those we are mourning today did. Seize life."

As Harry walked away from the podium applause rang throughout the Great Hall. He calmly walked to his seat in the front row and put his arm around Ginny while she put her head on his shoulder. She cried silently for a minute and then whispered, "Your speech was really beautiful, Harry." She felt a tear on her forehead. Harry was crying too. He tentatively reached his other arm around her and when she didn't pull away, he pulled her into an embrace.

When Minerva McGonagall stepped up to the podium to announce the end of the ceremony, the crowds began to filter out of their seats and towards the tables of food, Harry and Ginny remained in their seats, wrapped in each other's arms.


	2. Part 2

Author's note: in calculating years later and all that, I based stuff off of the assumption that in the original epilogue James was around 12 and the fact that Harry was around 36 when he sent his kids off. If you think I'm wrong, sorry but it's just the impression that I got. I also thought that Albus, being 11, would naturally have a brother who was year older and that would make fun of him about the Houses. It just felt right.

Five Years Later

Ginny pulled her veil over her face, looked into the mirror and said to herself, "This is it." She walked over to the double doors where Arthur Weasley was waiting for her and counted her last minutes of being free. Now responsibilities came and she could most definitely not rely on her parents. Not that she had before, but at least the comfort was there: she wasn't in charge of everything in her life. Ginny couldn't help but wonder if she should actually go through with this. Should she walk down that aisle and agree to be his forever and ever amen? Or should she leave the church as fast as she could in those five-inch heels?

"This is ridiculous," she thought to herself. "Of course I should walk down that aisle."

She linked her arm in her father's while the ushers opened the doors and the ceremony began.

Harry was resisting the urge to pull at his bowtie for the umpteenth time when he finally saw the doors open. Ginny and Mr. Weasley walked into the church and immediately Harry forgot all about the amount of people, the way-too-tight bowtie, and the nervousness that had been plaguing him. All he could see was her, looking beautiful, about to become his to have and to hold from this day forward.

Harry felt a jab in his side and heard Ron whisper, "She cleans up nicely, doesn't she?" Harry jabbed back and tried not to look like he had salivary gland problems.

As she approached, he noticed that although she was beaming, tears were running down her face. Mr. Weasley was crying too, he noticed. Then they stopped in front of Harry, lifted Ginny's veil and wiped away the tears, kissed her cheek, and gave her away to Harry.

It seemed like ages later when the priest finally said, "you may kiss the bride." "Okay," he thought, "don't do anything stupid… Just lean down and kiss her." He slid his arms around her waist and kissed her. Suddenly he heard a crack, as though someone had just Apparated, but when he looked up he found that it was the sound of the photographer's noisy camera. Then the sounds of the organ and applause reminded him that now was the part when they walked together back down the aisle and lived happily ever after.


	3. Part 3

Sorry the last chapter was über short (and in many ways inferior to this one and the first part), but I wanted to start this particular part of the story fresh. Hope you enjoy this!

"Harry, could you please answer that door?" Ginny shrieked from the next room. Having a baby was hard on the couple, despite having a good five years to themselves before finally tying the knot.

It had been a year since their wedding and having James had worn both Harry and Ginny out. But James was an absolute joy. A mischievous boy from the start, James had both father's and grandfather's knack for causing trouble, and it seemed their flying abilities. James also had inherited mischievous skills from Ginny's side of the family: Fred lived on in James, and George (who was a regular visitor) made sure that he taught the baby how to play those annoying games that babies sometimes play. James had lately taken to tossing his rattle on the floor and crying until the nearest person would give it back to him, shaking their head and finger while saying, "Now, James, don't do that again…" James of course, had a different plan, and would always proceed to throw the rattle again.

Harry headed towards the door, knowing that when Ginny started shrieking it was because James was trying her last nerve. And of course, that she needed sleep. They always needed more sleep. When he answered it, he was extremely happy to see that Ron and Hermione had dropped by to visit. "Hey guys, Ginny's having a meltdown in the other room, so feel free to come in and poke about. I'll be right back." And Harry rushed to go see exactly what had Ginny so frazzled.

"It's no wonder why Ginny has meltdowns, James is Fred reincarnated," Ron whispered to Hermione.

"James is a sweet boy… when he wants to be," Hermione whispered back. They giggled because no matter how much they wanted to be frustrated with James' behavior, they knew that no matter what he did, he always somehow (despite his young age) put it right again.

Five minutes later, Ginny and Harry walked into the living room and in unison, Ginny and Hermione exclaimed, "We have big news!"

Both Ron and Harry replied, "Oh yeah? What?"

Ginny and Hermione yelled, "WE'RE PREGNANT!"

The couples were silent for a moment while each backtracked and caught up with the other's statements. Then a group light bulb turned on because everyone started congratulating the other and how exciting, a baby!

Ginny's shrieks from earlier turned out to be anxiety from receiving St. Mungo's results of her pregnancy test that she'd taken without Harry's knowledge.

Ginny and Hermione soon separated themselves from their husbands and talked about "Secret mummy things." Both girls were excited that they would be pregnant together, finally someone would understand those urges and mood swings. Ginny recalled during her pregnancy with James that although Harry was supportive and attentive, it would have helped to have someone who had already been pregnant visiting more frequently than Fleur. It also helped that Ginny got on loads better with Hermione than she ever could have with Fleur.

Once Ron and Harry were left alone at the table, both admitted being extremely scared. Harry, of the demon woman that Ginny became during her moments of estrogen-induced Moments, and Ron of seeing a child come out of Hermione. Ron feared that the sight of Hermione giving birth would ruin their relationship. Once Harry heard this though, he laughed, admitting that it was a fear of his originally but that once it had happened it had been easy to block out the offending images and retain the beautiful ones.

"I really hope you're right," was all Ron could muster.

Suddenly, in the middle of everyone's conversations, James started crying. Ginny said, "Harry, it's your turn!" and went back to her conversation with Hermione.

Harry snorted with laughter and said, "Her expression whenever she says that never gets old! It's like she's hoping I come back emotionally scarred or something!"

Ron looked at him warily and said, "I think I'd better come with you… I'd better practice."

And the two went off to see what had started James off.


	4. Part 4

"Damn it! James! Come back here and clean this mess up!"

"But I don't wannaaaaa!"

Ginny's patience snapped and she yelled, "James Potter! Come here now!"

James pouted a second longer and then caught the calm look of fury on Harry's face and ran over to his mother's side and started picking up his wizard's chess pieces. Ginny calmed down a little after he'd finally picked them up and said, "James, throwing wizard's chess pieces at Albus is _not_ okay. After you put these away," she said as she watched him put the white queen into the proper box, "go and apologize to your brother."

As James stalked down the hall towards Albus' room, Ginny put a hand to her forehead and sighed. It was hard work having two boys only a year apart to take care of while Harry was always off at the Ministry trying to get reparations for all of Scrimegeour's and Fudge's "mistakes."

Harry noticed how beaten she was looking and pulled her into his arms. After a moment of silence, her shoulders started to shake, and all of a sudden she was crying. He didn't say anything; it was obvious what had her so taxed. He just stroked her hair and whispered that he loved her, always. It helped. It always helped. Even though she knew he cared, the reassurance always made tears subside.

Once she'd finally finished her breakdown, they walked down that same hall to their room and lay down on the bed. Harry let go of her only for a moment in order to use his wand to turn on some music and they fell asleep there together, still embracing and comforting each other.

It seemed like only minutes later they were roused after hearing a loud cry. They jumped out of bed and ran towards the boys' rooms poking their heads in to check on them individually. Harry found a crazed Voldemort aficionado in James' room. "Protego!" he yelled as he pointed the spell towards his frightened son's form.

Nameless Aficionado tried some quick spellwork against Harry but was blocked every time as Harry muttered the counter-jinxes under his breath.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled quickly and the aficionado's wand flew into Harry's hand. Harry rolled his eyes and sighed loudly in exasperation. He conjured bindings for the stranger's hands and hauled him towards the living room. He Disapparated with a crack and reappeared in the halls of the Ministry.

Harry found Ron in the grand lobby and waved. "Hey mate. I've got another one for you. This one tried to attack James," he said angrily.

"I keep telling you, mate. The answer is to move and get a secret-keeper."

"That's a little drastic, don't you think? I mean, this has only happened a few dozen times since James was born."

Ron snorted, "So anyway, where is this guy?"

"Tied up in my living room; I've got his wand right here." Harry took the stranger's wand out of his pocket and gave it to Ron.

They both Disapparated and reappeared in Harry's living room. Ron shook his head and disappeared once again, this time with Mr. Aficionado's arm in tow as well.

Ginny was still in Albus's room when Harry went to check on them. She smiled at him and asked, "I assume you took care of things?"

"Yeah," Harry sighed exasperatedly. "It never ends. Maybe we should follow Ron's advice."

"You can't be serious!"

"Yeah, I'm serious. How many more times do you think we'll be able to protect them? What happens if we don't wake up next time?"

Ginny thought about it for a moment. Harry was right; they'd already warded off attacks numerous times and this time the guy had gotten really close to hurting James.

"Alright, where should we move?" Ginny really didn't have to ask. She knew it was Harry's dream to move to Godric's Hollow, the neighborhood where he was born. In fact, lately he'd started talking about rebuilding his parents' house and making it their own.

Sure enough, Harry confirmed Ginny's thoughts. They decided to rebuild and follow Ron's advice and place protection on their house just as Ron and Hermione had done with their place.

"Ginny, I'm really curious about something…"

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Usually you go all Mrs. Weasley-Not-my-daughter-you-bitch on every guy that gets near Albus or James…"  
"And?"

"And this time you didn't. Why?"

"I didn't want to lose the baby again."

Harry blinked in response to Ginny's response. He recalled Ginny having a miscarriage the year previous when Nameless Aficionado Number 5 had decided to pay them a visit. Harry had gotten a little carried away after a particularly powerful Cruciatus Curse had hit Ginny in the stomach. Harry had almost killed the guy…

"Wait…again?"

Ginny sighed and shook her head. It always took a second for Harry to catch up on these sorts of subtleties. "Mmhmm."

"You mean…you're pregnant?"

"Ah, the lightbulb finally turned on, I see." Harry looked a bit insulted so Ginny kissed his cheek to show that she was only joking.

After this interesting confirmation, Harry jumped up and yelled, "That's great!" She just laughed in response.

Suddenly he sat down again and asked, "Why do you always wait until the strangest moments to tell me? With James you waited until I had had a truly heinous day at work. With Albus, you wait until Hermione and Ron come over to tell us their news so that along with finding out that Ron was having a kid, I find out that I'm going to have a kid at the same time! Now you tell me right after some dude attacks James…. "

"It's more fun that way," she answered simply.

"You're a bad person."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"You know, you guys are supposed to be the parents."

"Ron, what are _you_ doing here?"

"Well, Little Sister, I came because recently a crazed Voldemort supporter appeared and tried to attack your son. Where _have_ you been?"

"Ron?"

"What?"

"Shut up."

"Ouch, Ginevra, I'm hurt."

"Don't call me Ginevra."

"Hey, mate, your sister is a bad person." Harry chimed in.

"I know, right?"

"I'm _not_ a bad person!"

"Yes. Yes you are."

"Harry, you're supposed to be on _my_ side."

"You're right. Ginny, you're not an altogether terrible person." Harry grinned and kissed her cheek.

"This is the _last _time I let you get me pregnant!"

"Wait…you're pregnant?"

"Yes, Ronald. I'm pregnant."

"It never ends with you guys, does it?"


	5. Part 5

Hey Everyone!  
I've gotten a few questions from people about whether this is an actual story or a series of oneshots. Here's the deal, this "series of oneshots" is more like photography, capturing one moment in time. I probably should add this to the summary. Also, I'm really sorry but I'm not going to add very much of Ron and Hermione in this epilogue. They'll pop in every now and then but they're not characters that I'm very interested in developing at the moment. I'm probably going to end up writing their own epilogue since there's SO little in the existing one. But for now, bear with just the Potters until I get started on the Ron/Hermione one. Their appearances in this fic will turn into more in their own... Also, the Ron/Hermione epilogue will be a different rating because Ron likes to curse a lot and I wanted to write a fic (this one) that everyone could read. Especially since a lot of my stuff is Mature ratings or should be more than mature ratings even thought fanfic and fictionpress don't allow that.

Also, at this point, I'm just trying to get this epilogue done so I can keep working on my own fiction. Shameless plug: see my profile for my fictionpress link. :D

* * *

They were a cute sight: Albus on Harry's shoulders, Lily with her arms wrapped around Ginny's neck, and James in the middle holding both of his parents' hands. The family could finally move into their new home and start a life without attacks on them. Lily, luckily, had experienced the least of these random scares and was usually the one who avoided attacks. Most of the crazies went for the eldest child or straight for the parents themselves.

Ginny put Lily down and she toddled over to Harry and said, "Up!"

"Say 'please,' Lily," Ginny said quietly.

"Pweese, up!"

"Ginny…"

"Sorry, it's a reflex now," she said to Harry, then to Lily, "Honey, Daddy's holding Albus right now, want to come back up with Mommy?"

"Nooo…"

Harry groaned. "Alright. Albus, hold on tight for a sec." He kneeled and picked up Lily while Albus held tight to Harry's head. Ginny watched nervously, waiting for someone to hurt himself. It didn't happen. She breathed a sigh of relief as Harry rose confidently with Lily on his hip and Albus still intact on his shoulders.

"Please don't do that again. You're going to hurt yourself."

"Don't worry so much. You're turning into your mother."

Ginny gasped, horrified. "You're so mean!"

"Oh come on. Your mom's not that bad. I like Mrs. Weasley."

Ginny just glared at him for a moment. "Why are we still standing outside?"

"We're still surveying my handiwork. Isn't it beautiful? Look at the complete symmetry of it. It takes a master to be able to rebuild such a perfect house."

"You're the modest one, aren't you?"

Harry grinned. He set Lily down despite her loud complaints and said, "Mkay, Lily. Show Mommy and Daddy that you can walk up to the house all by yourself."

Determined to show her skill, Lily toddled off and grabbed the handrail to help her get up the stairs. She opened the door, stood in the doorway and yelled, "Ta-da!"

"Unbelievable. She never would have done it if I said that."

Harry grinned again. "I'm just an amazing father, I guess." He called out to Lily, ""Atta girl!" Lily smiled triumphantly.

"Yeah…_amazing,_" she said sarcastically.

Ginny felt James tugging on her pant-leg. "Yeah, James?"

"Up!"

"Say 'please'" Harry chimed in.

"Up, please!"

As Ginny picked James up, she said, "Don't you just _love_ regression?"

"So much," Harry replied.


	6. Part 6

Hey everyone! This is the last installment of the alternate epilogue, after this comes the written epilogue provided in HPDH. I'm practically crying (not really) as I write this, the final author's note for the final installment. ::tear runs down my face::

It has been a labor of love writing this and I'm definitely having mixed feelings as I send my baby off into the world. Enjoy the last chapter and tell your friends about this "story" if you like it. In honor of my finally-awake Christmas spirit (Sorry other denominations, I'm Christian) I've decided to take a snapshot of the family at Christmas.

* * *

"I can't believe that this is our last Christmas before James goes off to Hogwarts," Ginny said, almost tearfully. 

"You act like this is the last Christmas we're going to spend together," Harry laughed. "Time flies, doesn't it?" he added on a more serious note.

Lily, James, and Albus had gone to bed early this Christmas Eve, knowing that Santa wasn't going to be the one coming down the chimney, but wanting Harry and Ginny to keep thinking that they believed he was. Of course they didn't believe in Santa anymore, but they knew it made their mother happy thinking that they were still innocent.

When Harry and Ginny finished laying presents under the tree, they sat down together on the couch, enjoying the pine smell of the tree.

"Yeah. Time flies. It seems like yesterday that the kids actually believed in Santa."

"Haha. Do you think they know that we know that they don't believe in Santa anymore?"

"Nope. They think we're that naïve. It's cute, you have to admit, that they try to seem younger than they actually are."

"They do it for you, Ginny."

"They _so _do it for you, Harry."

Harry tackled Ginny and started tickling her.

"Sshh, Ginny. They'll hear you!" he whispered as she laughed loudly.

"Then..haha..stop…hahaha….tickling me!"

"Sshh! You're so loud."

She tried keeping her laughter silent but it didn't work as she finally snorted loudly and continued laughing. Harry, as he tickled her, kept telling her to shut up because the kids would wake up.

"You're so inconsiderate to them, why do you always have to be so effing loud?"

There was a loud thud as Harry hit the floor.

Ginny stuck her tongue out at him and said, "That'll teach you to tickle me."

They heard the footsteps of the kids as they all came into the living room and saw Ginny holding her stomach while laughing and their dad on the floor feigning pain.

"You guys are weird," Albus said.

"Think of it this way, I _could_ be like Great-uncle Vernon."

"You guys are awesome…" Albus muttered.

"Presents!" Lily shouted.

"Can we open them?" James asked.

"Sure. Go ahead," Ginny said still laughing. She sat up and extended a hand to Harry. He took it and got off of the floor and sat down on the couch with Ginny.

"Hey, here's one for Dad," Albus said.

Harry looked at Ginny with a questioning look in his eyes. How had she managed to sneak that under the tree?

It was a book of coupons. There was one for a free back massage, one for a weekend of pure- ahem, that coupon was inappropriate for children. Anyway, there was another one for a weekend of favorite meals, one for a free carwash, and kinky ones that were still inappropriate for children (he didn't read those off). He smiled, kissed her cheek, and stuck the coupon book in his back pocket. "Can't wait to use a couple of these," he murmured.

"Oh? Really?"

"Yeah! I mean, a weekend of whatever I want to eat, who wouldn't want that?" Harry licked his lips, "Mmm. Fish and chips, salmon, homemade sushi…"

Ginny cracked up again. He was using fish for a metaphor again…jerk.

After the kids finished unwrapping their gifts, they thanked their parents and said they couldn't wait to go to Uncle Ron's for the annual Christmas Day party.

"Happy Christmas, Mum and Dad," the three chorused.

"Happy Christmas," Harry and Ginny said as they kissed each on the cheek before the three ran off to bed. Harry could hear Lily wondering why Dad liked fish so much.

Once three doors were closed, Ginny said, "I can't believe you!"

"Hey, you're the one who gave me a book of coupons that offered-"

"Don't say anything! They still could hear you."

"Speaking of 'giving'…" Harry reached towards the side table drawer, opened it, and started rummaging, "…I have something for you here…somewhere." He pulled out a small wrapped gift and handed it to Ginny. "Happy Christmas, love."

When she opened it she found a simple heart pendant with an engraving on the back reading, _I carry your heart, I carry it in my heart._

She smiled and said "Who knew you were such a romantic?" right before she kissed him.


End file.
